Embarking on the Adventure of a Lifetime

#surprises

When we first moved to Kipnuk, the expectation was to be there for a year and to then move to a different village for the next school year. By the end of April, we knew our new destination would be Kasigluk, Alaska. It was a humbling experience for Kim to interview and accept the Site Admin/Principal position at Akula School in Kasigluk. It was exciting to know that next year we would be Tundra Foxes!

Kasigluk Tundra

With this destination in mind we could now set into some serious packing. Well, Greg could as Kim was very busy working with her principal to wrap up the school year, and learn all she could, before departing Kipnuk.

School in Kipnuk was scheduled to end on May 17th and the plan was to move the following weekend and to depart for the lower 48 around the 20th – or so – you know a leisurely time schedule. Kim had even booked dental and doctor appointments and made dates to catch up with friends. Everything seemed to be falling into place.

During this time, nearly every day from the beginning of May, we would walk out and look at the changing landscape. Waiting patiently for the spring break-up when our river, the Kugkaktlik, would start flowing again and which would mark the true end of winter. Views from the sky revealed a still very icy Bering Sea. It seemed like winter would be holding on for a long time more.

Thawing Tundra Next to the Frozen Bering Sea

Kugkaktlik River Before Break-up

The River is Almost Clear

Evening Sun Over Kipnuk Village

We hoped to see break-up before leaving Kipnuk and Greg was able to take pictures and video of this amazing process. It seemed like one day the river still had ice on it and the very next day it was as if winter had never happened — the river flowing so easily without any trace of ice. Birds singing, people smiling, the warmer air, and the feel of Spring finally here!

Then, the unexpected happened. The existing principal in Kasigluk needed to depart early for the lower 48 and left on May 10th. Kim was asked to finish the school year as the site administrator at Akula School starting on May 15th.

Kasigluk Playground

Akiuk Side of Kasigluk

This change meant that we had to be ready to move on May 13th. We had to step up the packing pace a bit. Kasigluk was on a different schedule and their school did not end until May 24th which put pressure on our departure plans. All of a sudden nothing was leisurely. Appointments needed to be rescheduled, plans changed, and planes chartered.

The big question was how to get efficiently from Kipnuk to Kasigluk. What we learned from some of the tenured staff was that we could charter a plane to move our things. This eliminated the need to relive the packing experience from last year: bundling and labeling everything into big black containers with yellow lids in order to overcome the harsh treatment usually encountered when shipping things to Alaska.

Chartering planes allowed us to transport boxes straight from Kipnuk to Kasigluk avoiding the delay of having our household goods going from Kipnuk to Bethel to Kasigluk with the USPS. Because of less handling, we could use some of the cardboard boxes we had collected over the year and overcome our shortage of shipping tubs. Then we had to revisit the conversation from last May, “How much stuff do we need?” And add the question, “How much stuff can we transport on a plane?”

Planes Move everything

Taking our family’s weight (Greg, Kim, and Isabella) into account, along with the few things we acquired during the year, we figured we would come close to approximately 3000 pounds, which meant we would have to charter two planes, a Cessna C207 (which could carry 900 pounds) and a Cessna C208 (which could carry 2300 pounds). As we were packing, we discovered that we were going to exceed the target weight of 3200 pounds by a couple hundred pounds.

The final days before departure we began pairing things down, shipping a few boxes that could survive harsh treatment, and giving away many items. We were finally able to get down to 3150 pounds for the planes, including ourselves and the dog, and found we had once again reduced our lives down to 75 boxes and 7 suitcases amounting to less than 3200 pounds of goods.

The Cessna 208 we used to move from Kipnuk to Kasigluk

To put things into perspective, we recently had a conversation with a family member about how moving companies generate quotes. The formula goes like this: 5,000 pounds for a married couple, then add 1000 pounds for each year of marriage. Whoa….we should have had about 32,500 pounds of stuff….and we probably did before we made this life-changing leap last year.

It is interesting that the conversation of “stuff” regularly rears its head in our life now. It goes like this, “Do you want it or need it?” Followed by, “Will you pay to ship it, or pay to move it?” Depending on the answers, the item may or may not make it into our village lives. We have come to understand stuff in a very visceral way and still wonder if we have too much stuff.

Back to moving……

Once we had everything ready to go, the act of moving was quick and mostly painless (except for the sore backs from lifting all those boxes). We had our planes chartered to arrive Saturday May 13th. We moved all our items to the warehouse at the airstrip the night before. Then, when the planes arrived, it took about 30 minutes to load each plane which was mostly waiting for seats to be removed and stowed, and then approximately 45 minutes in the air flying between villages, and another 30 minutes to unload everything. We were grateful for the help from a couple of the maintenance guys, the local Kipnuk RAVN agent, and one of the young men from the village in Kipnuk to facilitate the ease of our departure. We also had help from one of the teachers in Kasigluk, and many of young people who decided they wanted to help haul boxes from the vehicle to the house. It was one of our quickest and easiest moves yet – 3 hours from start to finish

Our new Kasigluk Home

When we arrived at our new home, we found that we already had a mostly furnished house because the previous Site Administrator had left most of his belongings behind. This allowed us to take our time unpacking and going through everything in our new household. Not having to look for pots, pans, and the coffee maker was a gift!

We decided to set aside the items that were duplicates for the new teachers that would be arriving in August. This also allowed us the ability to take some time to get to know the new village, and our new home, a little better before our summer departure. It also allowed Kim a smooth start to her new job just 48 hours after leaving Kipnuk.

The Johnson River

Here’s what we have learned about our new home so far. Kasigluk is a village that is slightly smaller than Kipnuk and is divided by the Johnson river. There is no bridge between the two sides of the village, so people travel by boat during the spring, summer, and fall, and by snow machine or 4-wheeler during the winter. There are a few vehicles in Kasigluk that are driven on the ice during the winter to travel up to Bethel to pick up supplies and travelers. There is a time when the ice has either not frozen enough, or has melted too much, that people cannot travel between the two sides.

There are two schools in Kasigluk: Akula (say Ah-goo-la) and Akiuk (say Ah-kee-yook) and Kim is the Site Administrator for the Akula School. Each school has 90+ students, grades K-12. Because they are smaller sites there is a Site Administrator but no Assistant Principal, and some teachers teach more than one grade level in the same classroom. The airport, grocery store, hardware store, and post office are all located on the Akula side. The Russian Orthodox church, the Kasigluk Community Center, and the clinic are also on the Akula side. The Moravian church is on the Akiuk side. Kasigluk has running water and 3 windmills to supplement the generator power. Despite what Google maps shows, Akula school is in the section on the southwest side of the river while Akiuk school is on the Northeast side of the river.

Travelling Between Akula and Akiuk

And, while we had some time to relax, there was the stress created with the change in timeline. All appointments had to be rescheduled and our departure from Alaska was moved back a week. In between our arrival on May 13th and departure on May 24th there was an ASB meeting, visits from contractors to evaluate the state of the school facilities, two feasts, graduation, and prom. It was a very busy 11 days.

When school wrapped up on May 24th, we had most of our boxes unpacked and many items set aside for the new teachers who would be joining us in August. We then packed up a couple of suitcases, the dog and her travel crate, and on the afternoon of May 24th headed to Bethel so Kim could check out with the school district.

Because of flight delays, we got there late so Greg and Isabella hung out at the airport awaiting Kim’s return. That evening we took a flight to Anchorage, where we stayed the night. The next morning, Greg went to the DMV to get his Alaska driver’s license and that afternoon we boarded the plane to Seattle.

In the Air between Bethel and Anchorage

Upon our arrival in Seattle we immediately understood that we had quickly adjusted to the slower, quieter village life. The view from the plane as we were landing, of all the houses, cars, and people, was overwhelming. By the time were on the ground and headed south to Tacoma, we were on sensory overload – just in time for rush hour traffic. It is hard to imagine we lived in this environment for so long, and how foreign it had become, in a very short time.

Seattle from the Air

The final days of May were spent with our daughter while we got our medical and dental checkups (even Isabella) and planned our foray across the country to visit family and friends.

One of the challenges of village life is there are no dentists, doctors, or vets. There is a clinic staffed with Community Health Aides who perform tests, gather results, and consult with doctors in Bethel and Anchorage for the best treatment plan. Any serious cases require medivac to Bethel, or even to Anchorage. For routine medical care, like physicals, blood-work, and teeth cleanings (even Isabella), our options are to return to Renton for care with doctors we have used for years, or to locate new doctors in Anchorage. We are grateful for the ability to return to the doctors we have used for years and the care they give (even Isabella).

May was busy and filled with so many transitions. The transition from winter to spring through break-up, the transition between Kipnuk to Kasigluk, the transition from the school year to summer vacation, and the transition from Alaska to the lower 48. It was one of the most challenging months so far.

This past month has been filled with all manner of surprises. My last blog seems like a lifetime ago, but only one month has passed. In that time, winter has arrived, like we knew it would, and the landscape has transformed into the snowy scene you see above.

Some of the surprises of the past month have included an unexpected trip to Bethel, followed by a LONG weather delay on the return trip home. Followed by a surprise Thanksgiving dinner invite to celebrate with co-workers who stayed behind in the village. Finally, the biggest surprise of all is how comfortable we feel here during the holidays.

While we miss our friends and family in the lower 48, and yearn for those connections we have left behind, the connection we feel to Kipnuk defies explanation. It is like a place we have been yearning to come to, without having any idea that it even existed. Here, we have found a peace and contentment that had eluded us in out lifestyle in the Seattle area.

This morning, while we enjoyed our breakfast and spoke about what we needed/wanted to do for the day, we mulled over a couple of radical ideas: a long walk and some laundry followed by putting up more Christmas lights. Sounds good. Greg and I then reminisced about what the Sunday morning conversation was on this very weekend last year. It would have been, “We need to go to Costco, then……followed by a long list of social commitments to attend to and chores that needed to be done, in order to prepare for the work week ahead. Oh, and by the way, Greg have been packing for a trip to Connecticut or Portland, or….where-ever he was off to that week.” It was a busy, frenetic, exciting, satisfying, hectic, and rewarding life, filled with community service opportunities and life-changing experiences.

And, if you had asked us a year ago if we were happy, we would have said, “Yes! And, we would like a little more down time, but it’s all good the way it is.” Well, clearly, we were ready for a change that we didn’t even know was coming. And now that it’s here, we are not just happy, we are content. It is the contentment of people living life the way they want to and finally having the time to choose what to do next. It is the contentment of a different kind of connection with the people in our community. Finally, it is the contentment of a single income family. Surprise!

With Greg firmly settled into pre-retirement, there are opportunities for us to use our time in a different manner. He handles the household and the shopping (online and at the local stores) and he handles a lot of the details that we reserved Sunday afternoons for. Since he can handle them at his own pace during the week, Sunday afternoons have been transformed into time to stroll the tundra, relax, and reflect. It is also the time when I attend to correspondences (email and snail mail) which is a luxury I haven’t had in years. It is a time of connection to each other, time to talk about big ideas and small things, both of which matter immensly.

In this time and place, we are happy and content. It is an unconventional (uncomfortable) moment when we realize that some of the things we held most dear no longer fit into the lifestyle we have chosen and the equal realization that what we miss from home are the people. So, it is with happy and contented hearts that we know we will see our friends again, and we will all be different because of our experiences in between. It will be another surprise!